Whole Wheat Homemade Cheez-Its

What were some of your favorite snacks as a kid? If you grew up in a house like mine, they probably weren’t carrots or green smoothies! Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers wrote a great post the other day about her love affair with Cheez-Its and the other snacks she loved as a kid.

Well, let me tell you – I was a Goldfish and Cheez-It girl through and through. I love the fishes ’cause they’re so delicious! Gone goldfishin! (If anyone is unaware, that’s the Goldfish theme song.)

Some of my other favorite snacks were Dunkaroos, Gushers, Cosmic Brownies, Oatmeal Cream Pies, Handi-Snacks and S’Mores cereal. If you’ve never eaten them, you were deprived as a child. (But if you’re a parent and don’t feed your kids those things because they are processed – props to you!) All processed, all pretty unhealthy, but all so good!

I’ve given up most of those snacks (though I still eat them from time to time!), but the one snack that I am completely addicted to are Goldfish. I tended to go back and forth between Cheez-Its and Goldfish when I was a kid. (I never much liked Cheese Nips and would get mad when my Mom bought them by mistake.) I’m currently in one of my Goldfish phases. You may think that Goldfish and Cheeze-Its are pretty much the same, but take it from a cheese-a-holic – they are not. I think the best way to explain it is that Cheez-Its have a more distinct cheddar flavor.

Anyways, as I am addicted (seriously, Luke thinks I need to create and go to Goldfish-holic Anonymous meetings), I decided to try to make some homemade Goldfish in order to cut back on processed food. I used a recipe from Smitten Kitchen and decided to forgo cutting the dough into fish shapes and just slice it into squares with a knife. It was a good thing I did. When I first tasted a cracker fresh out of the oven, my first thought was, “these don’t taste like Goldfish, they taste like Cheez-Its!”

So I’m going to call them Homemade Cheez-Its instead! Regardless, they are very tasty! Oh and next time I may use orange cheddar to get them more Cheez-It looking!

They were much easier to make than I imagined. I don’t think I’ll be making them all the time because they do require rolling out dough etc., but every now and then I’m going to make my body happier and feed it cheese crackers made from real food ingredients.

So, to all my fellow cheese cracker lovers out there, get baking!

Throw all your ingredients in a food processor and blend until it forms a thick dough.

Then form the dough into a ball.

Roll it out on a floured cutting board (pretty much as thin as you can).

Then cut the dough into squares with a knife and place them on a greased cookie sheet (you can cut them into shapes if you’re feeling ambitious!).

I forgot about Farley’s fruit snacks! I loved those too! I also loved that they came in bigger bags 🙂 Doritos are actually one of the few popular snacks that I don’t really like – they were my brother’s favorite though. I’m sure there’s a recipe out there somewhere for em!

Oh man, if I am not careful that whole goldfish package will be gone in one sitting. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE goldfish! Cheez-it’s are my second favorite. This recipe looks so easy and is definitely a dangerous one to have around 🙂 Thank you!

Just for future baking ease … When I made a version of these, I just rolled them out directly on a silpat, and cut and poked a hole in the middle ON that, on the baking sheet. That way, you didn’t have to transfer little squares, and they break apart once cooked. SO much easier…! Hope that helps for the next time a cheez-attack strikes 🙂

Loved this post. My school lunch-making days ended long ago but I so rmeember these same feelings! I tried to be creative while providing some nutrition with limited supplies of lunch-type food on hand. And then I would wonder whether the whole bag just got tossed into the trash!

I agree…there should be a Goldfish Anonymous! I started eating a total Vegan diet in early September 2011, but after 8 months and too much weight loss I decided “what the heck” (I relapsed) and started eating goldfish again. They are my one and only vise. I buy them in the big box at Costco but every once in a while I get a bad box. They don’t taste cheesy at all. I wonder why that is?

Haha I love that you said you “relapsed” on goldfish! They really are an addiction! I’ve never had a bag that didn’t taste cheesy, but sometimes they don’t add enough salt and that might be what makes them taste less cheesy occasionally.

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Welcome to After Dinner Dance! I'm Caroline, a 27-year-old living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. My blog follows my love of cooking delicious and nutritious meals that make veggies taste good, and a bit of my life including my running and adventures with my toy poodle, Teddy! I have a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion and I am also a Certified Health Education Specialist. Feel free to contact me at afterdinnerdance@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you!